Suit was brought by John W. Daniel against Hugh L. Hendrick, to recover certain lands described in the petition. Daniel claimed under two deeds from Jeptha H. Daniel Sr., dated respectively January 1, 1898, and April 23, 1898, conveying the land in dispute. At the return term the defendant answered that he was in possession of the land only as agent for his wife, Helen Hendrick, and at that term she was made a party defendant. In their plea they admitted Mrs. Hendrick’s possession, and denied the plaintiff’s title or that hе had any right to the possession or the rents and profits of the land. They further averred that in the fall of 1889, Jeptha H. Daniel, the grantor in the deeds to the plaintiff, who was the father of both the plaintiff and Mrs. Hendrick, put Mrs. Hendrick in possession оf the land and expressed the desire that she should have it as a gift or - advancement from him; that after this declaration, with the express understanding that, the lands were a gift from Jeptha H. Daniel to his daughter, Mrs. Hendrick, she, by and through her husband Hugh L. Hendriсk, went into possession and has so remained ever since; and that her possession has been continuous and exclusive for a space of more than seven years in the lifetime of Jeptha H. Daniel, without the payment of any rent for the land, the seven years having elapsed before the making of the alleged deeds from Jeptha H. Daniel to the plaintiff. It was therefore claimed that Mrs. Hendrick was seized of the land in fee before the making of the deeds set out in the plaintiff’s abstract of title. The plea also set up, that, after going into possession of the land under this parol gift, Mrs. Hendrick, acting through her husband as her agent, made substantial and valuable improvements on thе property, which were enumerated. At the trial evidence was introduced on both sides. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for the premises sued for, and mesne profits. The defendants made a motion for a new trial, which was overruled, and they excepted.
This court is thoroughly committed to the proposition that the act of 1889 and the subsequent acts amendatory thereof, the provisions of which have been embodied in Civil Code, .§ 5269, are to be literally construed, and that nothing will be added to or taken from them by judicial construction. The original act (Acts 1889, p. 85) provided only for cases “where any suit is instituted or defended by a person insane at the time of trial, or by the personal representative of a deceased persоn.” In the case of Woodson v. Jones, 92 Ga. 662, which was decided November 6, 1893, this court held that under the act of 1889, “the maker of a negotiable promissory note is a competent witness in his own favor to prove payment thereof to the payee before the note was transferred, although the payee has since died, the action being by the indorsee of the note, and the personal representative of the payee not being a party thereto on either side.” In the opinion the present Chief Justice, referring to former decisions to the effect that the terms of the act of 1889 would not be extended by construction, but would be construed to the letter, quoted from the act to the еffect that “ there shall be no other exceptions allowed under this paragraph, by any court, than those herein set forth.” The General Assembly, which was then in session, seeing the deficiency in the act of 1889, as illustrated by the casе cited, immediately thereafter, on December 9, 1893, amended it by providing that it should extend to cases where “any suit is instituted or defended . . by the
The literal meaning of the word “ endorsee ” is easily ascertained by reference to its etymology. Endorsement applies to such written entries as may be made on the back of notes, checks, etc., and may transfer title to the paper on which it is made. The literal meaning of the word “ assignment ” is much broader. In its most general sense it applies to the transfer of ,interest in all classes of property, real, personal, or mixed. Bouvier gives as the definition of the verb “ assign,” to make or set 'over to another, and of “ assignment,” a transfer or making over to another of the whole of any property, real or personal, in possession or in action, or of any estate or right therein; a transfer by writing, as distinguished from one by delivery. Black’s Law Dictionary (p. 97) defines the word as “the act by which one person transfers to another, or causes to vest in that other, the whоle of the right, interest, or property which he has in any realty or personalty, in possession or in action, or any share, interest, or subsidiary estate therein. . . In a narrower sense, the transfer or making over of the estate, right, or title which one has in lands and tenements.” The same authority defines the verb “ assign,” as used in conveyancing, as follows: “To make or set over to another; to transfer; as to assign property, or some interest therein.” It seems clear that, technically speaking, the word “assignment” refers to a transfer of interest in land alone, and that to apply it to a transfer of a note or similar paper is to give it a broad, rather than a technical meaning. Literаlly, it most assuredly covers a conveyance of land by deed.
The word “transfer,” in its literal meaning, is broader than “ assignment,” and all the authorities agree in á definition which in effect covers any act by which the owner of anything delivers or conveys it to another with the intent to pass his rights therein. In like general terms, a transferee is one to whom a transfer is made. Following the former decisions of this court, therefore, and giving to the words “assignee” and “transferee,” as used in the code, a literal construction, we are forced to the conclusion that they cover the grantee in a conveyance of land. These words are the broadest that could possibly have been used. A literal сonstruction of either necessarily includes a vendee, grantee,
The case of Elliott v. Shaw,
Judgment affirmed.